Six paragraphs deep into an email to a friend, CNN’s Anderson Cooper confirmed what many have thought to be true about the high-profile broadcast journalist but that he has never addressed: He is, in fact, gay.

Responding to a recent article in Entertainment Weekly about Hollywood’s new matter-of-fact approach to coming out, the host of Anderson Cooper 360° and syndicated afternoon talk show Anderson said he had long mulled whether it’s important to make one’s sexual orientation known.

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“Even though my job puts me in the public eye, I have tried to maintain some level of privacy in my life,” he wrote to friend and Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan, who posted the response, with Mr. Cooper’s permission, to his blog on Monday. He remained mum while entering war zones as a broadcast journalist, deciding that the less an interview subject knows about him, the better. He didn’t mention his sexuality in his memoir, Dispatches from the Edge, he wrote, because it focused on his experiences reporting on war, disasters, loss and survival.

But as his professional career marched on, Mr. Cooper mulled the “unintended consequences” of keeping those details private — people may think he’s hiding something, that he’s ashamed or afraid. Gay rights are front and centre in U.S. news now and, as violence and discrimination against gay teenagers and adults continues, he said, he felt there “is value in making clear where I stand.”

“The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.”

While Mr. Cooper’s revelation was breaking news Monday, it was also met with shrugs and ‘I-knew-it-all-alongs.’

“Good for you, @AndersonCooper. You’re awesome,” tweeted How I Met Your Mother actor Neil Patrick Harris, who came out in 2006.

Nonetheless, it made one thing clear: Coming out no longer commands the Ellen Degeneres “I’m Gay” magazine cover splash. Nor does it stir the kind of shock and surprise that met Hollywood leading man Rock Hudson when his homosexuality became widely known.

But it still matters when gay and lesbian celebrities and public officials make their sexuality known, said Syracuse University communications professor Bob Thompson.

“This is still an issue,” he said. “We’ve still got not only a fair amount of people in this country who still don’t think gay people should get married and think that this is a scandalous kind of thing. And we still get instances of bullying.”

His announcement was exactly the kind of coming out the Entertainment Weekly story said we’re seeing more and more of, he pointed out. And that matters too.

“There was no drum roll, no ‘we’re going to have a press conference,’” he said. “The ‘I’m gay’ part seems to come mid-sentence.”

The 45-year-old son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt went on to say he had always been open about his sexuality to friends, family and colleagues. “In a perfect world, I don’t think it’s anyone else’s business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted.”

Canadian comedian Rick Mercer, who is also openly gay, made waves last fall, following the death of gay Ottawa teenager Jamie Hubley, when he called on all closeted people in power to come out as role models for gay teenagers.

Mr. Cooper is taking a similar cue, as somebody who reports on this kind of bullying and on same-sex marriage in the United States, says Shael Gelfand of Calgary-based Peak Communicators. Public relations managers have absolutely changed their approach to helping a client come out, he said.

“Over the past 10 years, when somebody came out of the closet, it did get a bigger reaction because people were making a big public declaration,” he said. “But now, because there is more universal, societal acceptance — we’re allowing gay marriages, for example — it’s just something that comes out as a personal decision.”

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